Gov. Andrew Cuomo's 2011 tax returns show he's making a tidy bundle in a trust that deals in bonds and investments in Texas and New Jersey, while Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy won more than $2,000 at the track.
Cuomo reported income of nearly $50,000 from unspecified investments in bonds and in investments generally categorized as real estate or "royalties" in Dallas, Austin, and Fort Worth and in Red Bank, N.J. Aides say he has no control over the investments and doesn't even know if they are properties or royalties for commodities that could include petroleum and minerals. The vast majority of earnings was in unspecified bonds.
Meanwhile, Duffy's tax returns show he made $2,628 during a day at the races at Saratoga Race Course. It was part of the more than $238,000 he and his wife, Barbara, received in taxable income in 2011.
That includes Duffy's $182,950 in pension and annuities he collected from his career as Rochester's police chief and mayor, although just $76,770 was taxable. He is also paid $153,823 as lieutenant governor, chosen by Cuomo who as attorney general criticized "double dipping" by public workers who simultaneously collect a public paycheck and public pension.
The 2011 tax returns made public briefly on Tuesday show Cuomo is no longer paying $6,000 in New York City in residency tax. He had paid that for staying in a Manhattan apartment at times for years, but owned by his girlfriend, Food Network TV star Sandra Lee.
Instead, his official residence is her Westchester County home among $1 million houses where he shares the household costs, although no breakdown was provided. He also spends some time in the governor's mansion in Albany for free.
Cuomo reported two charitable deductions: $10,000 to the HELP USA charity he founded for the homeless and needy before he became governor, and $8,950 to the state of New York, part of his pledge to give back 5 percent of his salary in hard fiscal times.
He's paid $179,000 a year as governor, but his investments gave him a total federally adjusted gross income of $183,155.
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